Introduction

The Gospel of John was written to persuade people to believe in Jesus (20:30–31). The opening verses declare that Jesus is God, stressing his unique relationship with God the Father. The book focuses on seven of Jesus’ signs (miracles), to show his divinity. Jesus called people to believe in him, promising eternal life. He proved he could give life by raising Lazarus (ch. 11) and by his own death and resurrection. John features Christ’s seven “I am” statements, his encounters with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman, his Upper Room teachings and washing of the disciples’ feet (chs. 13–16), and his high priestly prayer (ch. 17). It includes the most well-known summary of the gospel (3:16). The author was probably the apostle John, writing about a.d. 85.

The Word Became Flesh

1 aIn the beginning was bthe Word, and cthe Word was with God, and dthe Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 eAll things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 fIn him was life,1 and gthe life was the light of men. 5 hThe light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

6 There was a man isent from God, whose name was jJohn. 7He came as a kwitness, to bear witness about the light, lthat all might believe through him. 8 mHe was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

9 nThe true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet othe world did not know him. 11 He came to phis own,2 and qhis own people3 rdid not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, swho believed in his name, the gave the right uto become vchildren of God, 13 who wwere born, xnot of blood ynor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And zthe Word abecame flesh and bdwelt among us, cand we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son4 from the Father, full of dgrace and etruth. 15 (fJohn bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, g‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) 16 For from hhis fullness we have all received, igrace upon grace.5 17 For jthe law was given through Moses; kgrace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 lNo one has ever seen God; mthe only God,6 who is at the Father’s side,7 nhe has made him known.

The Testimony of John the Baptist

19 And this is the otestimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, p“Who are you?” 20 qHe confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? rAre you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you sthe Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am tthe voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight8 the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, u“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, v“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even whe who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Behold, the Lamb of God

29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, xthe Lamb of God, who ytakes away the sin zof the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, a‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but bfor this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John cbore witness: d“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and eit remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but fhe who sent me to baptize gwith water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, hthis is he who baptizes gwith the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son9 of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ithe Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, j“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, k“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.10 40 lOne of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus11 was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found mthe Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of nJohn. You shall be called oCephas” (which means pPeter12).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 qThe next day Jesus decided rto go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now sPhilip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found tNathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom uMoses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus vof Nazareth, wthe son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, x“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, yan Israelite indeed, zin whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How ado you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, b“Rabbi, cyou are the Son of God! You are the dKing of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,13 you will see eheaven opened, and fthe angels of God ascending and descending on gthe Son of Man.”

The Wedding at Cana

2 On hthe third day there was a wedding at iCana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with jhis disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, k“Woman, lwhat does this have to do with me? mMy hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there nfor the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty ogallons.1 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted pthe water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested qhis glory. And rhis disciples believed in him.

12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and shis brothers2 and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

13 tThe Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus uwent up to Jerusalem. 14 vIn the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make wmy Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, x“Zeal for your house will consume me.”

18 So the Jews said to him, y“What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, z“Destroy this temple, and in three days aI will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,3 and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about bthe temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, chis disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed dthe Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.

Jesus Knows What Is in Man

23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name ewhen they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus fon his part did not entrust himself to them, because ghe knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for ghe himself knew what was in man.

Summarized Bible

Complete Summary of
the New Testament

By KEITH L. BROOKS

Author of

“Simple Studies in Bible Marking”

Published by

Bible Institute of Los Angeles

536–558 South Hope Street

Los Angeles, Cal.

Copyright 1919

keith l. brooks

How Shall I Study My Bible?

by frederic w. farr, d. d.

PEOPLE are always asking, how shall I study the Bible? What is the best method? There is no short cut, no royal road, no magic method. Say to such an inquirer, “Read the Bible over and over again—not once, nor twice, nor thrice, but many, many times.” And that is all any one can do. Read it until you become familiar, cognizant of its contents, until you are so familiar with your Bible, be it Bagster or Oxford, that you can close your eyes and visualize the passage by locating it upon a particular page just where it belongs.

In riding upon a railroad train, you hear the trainmen call out the stations, and you refer to your time card to verify the call as each station is passed, and you wonder at the trained memory of the man who can repeat that long list of way stations without a mistake, and you ask him how he ever does it, and he smiles and replies that he has done it so long it is automatic, done without thought and without effort; and so the best product of Bible study becomes spontaneous and involuntary. You have read the Bible so frequently, so thoughtfully, so earnestly, so prayerfully that it comes to you without direct effort on your part where to locate a passage and you label it instinctively. And when the facts of Scripture are all in your head and heart, you can safely trust the Holy Spirit to interpret those facts, and you need not that any man teach you, and therefore the only thing to seek and to secure is to become familiar with the contents of the Word—thoroughly cognizant of all the facts of Scripture, and read them so often that you see them on the page where they occur, even with closed eyes. In that way, a man with one book, if that book be the Bible, has a large and liberal culture and an education that will serve manifold purposes in solving the problems and bearing the burdens and discharging the duties of daily life.

Christian workers must be taught and trained. To teach is to cause to know; to train is to cause to do; knowing and doing are related as a means to an end, as a cause and effect. “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.” Theory precedes practice. How could a man ever do anything unless he knows how it ought to be done? We not only have to be taught, we have to be trained. We must learn the theory, we must acquire the practice and knowledge as a means to an end. I shall briefly mention seven conditions under which Bible study may be prosecuted with success.

Regeneration

The first condition is indispensable and fundamental; indeed it is not so much a condition as a prerequisite, and that is regeneration. You must be born again before you can understand the Bible. It is absolutely necessary. (Matt. 13:11.) What Daniel says of prophecy is true of all Scriptures—“The wise shall understand, the wicked shall not.” He means that character rather than culture is the condition of understanding prophecy. If you would understand the prophecies of God’s Word correctly, it is not necessary to graduate at a University or Seminary, and read Greek and Hebrew, but it is necessary to be good, to be pure, to be holy. The heart makes the theologian. The heart is the organ of spiritual vision, and character rather than culture becomes the key to unlock the mysteries of prophecy. That is true of all Scripture. (1 Cor. 2:14.) Suppose a man is sitting beside you on yonder mountain top, and you are describing to him the glories of a sunset. The west is brilliant with prismatic hues of iridescent rainbow beauty. The man is indifferent, and unconcerned. You grow indignant until you discover that the man is blind. What cares he about the sunset? What knows he about your words? You do not scold him, you do not blame him, you pity him. No unregenerated man can know anything about the mysteries of God and the meaning of the Bible. A man must be a Christian before he can open the Bible with any possibility of arriving at its meaning. It is spiritually discerned. Suppose I say to you that on the back of your hand there are scales like those of a fish, and you look at your white hand and laugh in scorn, and say that is nonsense. Suppose I take you out in yonder street and look up into the sky and say there are four moons revolving around the planet Jupiter, and you look up at that great white planet in the evening sky, and you say the man is crazy, it is no such thing. Suppose I take your razor and say it has a corrugated edge like a cross-cut saw, and you hold the razor up to the light, and you say it is not so. Put your hand under a microscope; it looks like the back of an alligator. Put the sharpest razor you ever saw under a miscroscopic lens; it looks like a circular saw. Put the telescope on Jupiter, and you see the four satellites in their appointed order. That former statement was foolishness to your natural eye, because it was miscroscopically discerned. That latter statement was foolishness to your natural eye, because it was telescopically discerned. The axioms of the Bible are foolishness to the natural mind because they are spiritually discerned. A man must be born of the Spirit before he knows what the Bible teaches.

Filled With the Holy Spirit

Second: A man must be baptized with the Holy Spirit as well as born of the Spirit to study the Bible successfully. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit. “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His,” and “by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body.” But there is something beyond. There is a reception and an appropriation of the Holy Spirit as a teacher and a guide and a helper that confers a marvelous benefit upon the believer. We have a mental salvation.

“Be renewed in the spirit of your minds.” We have talked so much about purifying the heart by faith that we have forgotten about clarifying the mind. It is quite as necessary to have a renewed mind as it is to have a clean heart. A clear head may be a product of the Holy Spirit as well as a clean heart. A man may testify to heart purity, and only God and the angels know anything about it, but if a man says anything about his clear head, as soon as he opens his mouth he gives himself away. The Holy Spirit is like oil to lubricate the mental machinery so that a man can think coherently, imagine vividly, remember retentively, argue logically. I believe that a Christian student in the public schools uniformly takes higher rank than a scholar who is not a Christian. I ask for an explanation of that fact, and you say a Christian has a higher motive. He has a conscientious inducement to apply himself and to be faithful, but that accounts for it only in part. A Christian has a mentality illuminated by the Holy Spirit.

Once upon a time a young College student went into a class in mathematics with a problem in Algebra unsolved. He had studied long and hard over that lesson but in vain. When he got into the class, as happens so frequently, the Professor sent him to the board to demonstrate that particular problem that he didn’t have. He was a Christian student. He didn’t relish standing up before the class and failing. It was humiliating. But he went right up to the blackboard and stood before it feeling very helpless and very much ashamed, and then as he stood there with his back to the class and his face to the board, he prayed, “O God, show me how to solve this problem.” In the twinkling of an eye the solution flashed into his mind, and he seized the crayon and dashed off the figures, to the applause of the whole class. That was a mental miracle. It was the Holy Spirit illuminating his mind in answer to prayer. If he had wasted the morning on the campus loitering or gossiping, as many students do, he might have gone there and stood with his face to the wall until night and prayed, and he wouldn’t have been answered. But he had grappled faithfully and honestly with that problem, and what he couldn’t do God did in answer to prayer. Now that comes from having the Holy Spirit as your mentality to stimulate you, to enlighten you and to help you, and our minds need saving quite as much as our souls and quite as much as our bodies, for our highest life is a mental life, and even our spiritual life comes under the scope of our mentality, and the Holy Spirit is our teacher to guide us into all truth, and even a believer can study better with the help of the Holy Spirit.

A Ravenous Appetite

In the third place, there must be a ravenous appetite for Bible study. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them.” “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” If you don’t love to study the Bible, you’d better postpone this course of study, but the appetite grows by what it feeds on, and if you haven’t any appetite, you need praying for. Sometimes a person is run down, and goes to a doctor. Before the doctor makes a diagnosis, he begins to quiz you. The first question is, how is your appetite? If you have no appetite, you need medicine. When a Christian has no appetite for God’s Word, it is a dangerous symptom. Remember what the Israelites said in the wilderness, “Our soul loatheth this light bread.” Light bread, indeed. It was angels’ food. If it was good enough for the angels, it ought to have been good enough for the Israelites. We remember the food of the Egyptians—cucumbers, melons, garlic, etc. Many people prefer novels or newspapers to the Bible—members of the church too. They have no appetite. To make any progress in Bible study, you must love the Bible. Unless you put your heart into the work, it is drudgery, and it never succeeds. The highest success is the spirit in which you do your work. God never says, “Well done, thou good and successful servant,” but “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Cultivate your appetite. A strong spiritual appetite is the greatest spiritual safeguard. “How sweet are Thy words unto my mouth, yea sweeter than honey to my lips.”

Unflagging Industry

Fourth condition: Unflagging industry, hard work. “In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.” Men don’t find golden nuggets lying around loose on the surface of the earth. They have to look for them, and the deeper they dig and the harder they work, the more precious treasure do they find. There are no rewards for laziness. There is no truth to be discovered save by the hardest work. Every chapter, every passage, every verse is a great mine, of which we only scratch the outer surface. The Word is infinite and inexhaustible. But this is the greatest need of all—hard work. The chief attraction of heaven lies suggested in the activities of the cherubim—they rest not day nor night. They work 24 hours a day. Isn’t that delightful? The time we sleep is wasted. We are unconscious. What a small sum of our time remains to do anything! One-third of our time is spent in bed, resting, another one-third feeding, grooming and nursing these bodies of our humiliation. What a pitiable fraction of time is left to do anything for God or man, and oh, how glorious it will be to keep on working 24 hours at a stretch! The student who works the hardest does the most and goes the farthest.